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| Date | Starting Place | Ending Place | Author | Last Update |
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| 04-20-11 |
Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales |
Kington, Herefordshire, England |
ray | 06-13-11 19:04:50 |
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I lazed about in bed until I heard stirrings downstairs. I went down and joined Harry for a breakfast of coffee and two slices of toast. Ruth joined us and we spoke more about local politics and other topics. After about 15 minutes, Harry said he had to leave, we hugged, and off he went. It was clear that Ruth would be leaving soon and I went up to pack. I gathered my things and got out of the house just as Ruth drove off. I thought there was a Subway in town and I wanted to eat more food before riding off so I rode around the town, eventually asking someone who directed me to it. At this time of the morning, Abergavenny was deserted.  I ate a sandwich and packed two others. The Subways in England put more fresh vegetables into their sandwiches and I like them quite a bit. The drawback is that while they offer ice, they don't offer free, filtered water from their cold drinks machine, as they do in the US. Between eating and updating my daily journal, I left Abergavenny about 10am. It didn't take long to climb out of Abergavenny and onto Old Hereford Rd., a lightly used country lane.  Once out of town, I rode between tree covered hills and farm fields. The flowering trees were especially pretty.  Even though it was a sunny, cloudless day, it was a bit hazy, more so to the camera than the naked eye. Here is the view looking across the valley overlooking a field of pretty yellow wildflowers.  This photo not only shows the clear sky but is filled by a standalone tree that caught my eye.  Old Hereford Rd. ended at Llanthony Rd.,  The road followed the River Honddu up into a long, narrow valley with expansive views.  The road was on a steady upgrade as it headed toward the hills that make up the north end of the valley. The road in the photo was one I'd get to eventually.  There were pretty vistas in every direction. This one shows the three main components of farm field, forest, and barren hilltops.  The vibrant color bands of these trees made me stop and take a photo.  The River Honddu as it wends its way along the valley.  Even the valley floor was covered with color.  Riding in this valley is the essence of bike touring for me. I was moving under my own power though a beautiful landscape listening to the sounds of nature among the quiet of the world. It seemed I couldn't ride more than a few hundred yards without wanting to stop to take yet another photo of the valley.  At about the 10 mile mark, I came to a ruined priory built in the 11th century.  According to the sign, it was now called the Church of St. David.  It was home to a pub and a stable and it was hard not to take a photo of the remaining arches from every angle.  I ate a sandwich and spent about 20 minutes looking around and resting in the abundant sunshine. The view past the stable was pretty, as well.  The river was my constant companion on this part of the ride and I crossed over it several times.  The road continued meandering along the valley with stunning views all around.  As the road got toward the upper end of the valley, it got steeper  and the hillsides got closer.  At the 16 mile mark, I started the ascent up to the pass and I had to spend some time grinding away in my lowest gear, including a fair number of rest stops.  At one stop, I saw this incongruous band of forest in an otherwise desolate scene. I would later come to recognize this as a hallmark of UK forest management.  The pass, itself, was barren with steep hills.  Once through the pass, the views looking north were expansive. Unfortunately, the haze, though not really a problem for a human was hard for my camera to penetrate.  The road down the other side was nothing more than a ribbon of asphalt along the slope of the hill. Cars were periodically parked on it whose inhabitants were out lounging on grass on a sunny day.  The road eventually kinked downward and I was able to coast for several miles through forested farm fields.  The downhill lasted almost all the way to Hay on Wye, a cute town virtually right on the Welsh-English border that is known for its (very) many book stores.  I decided to spend a bit of time in Hay on Wye as I only had 15 miles left for the day, it was only 3:30, and my host worked until 7pm. I found a cafe with wifi that served vegetarian lasagna. I checked email, sent out a trip update, and eyed the dessert cart greedily. I ended up taking down a very good brownie before I left. While I knew that the route from Abergavenny to Hay on Way would involve lots of climbing, I was unprepared for big hills on the rest of the ride. But, since Hay on Wye is right on the river,  it made sense that I'd have to climb out of the river valley. This hazy view gives some idea of the hills I had to deal with.  I was pleased to see some fields of flowering Rape Seed, the stuff Canola Oil is made from. I'd first seen it in France several years ago. I clearly remembered the sweet smell and dazzling yellow color. Here is a close look at the plants that make up all that yellow.  My destination for the night was Kington, almost due north of Hay on Way. While the river curved east, I rode on deserted country lanes up and over the valley's hillsides.  This hazy view back towards Hay on Wye gives some idea of the grades I was dealing with.  Virtually all of the livestock I passed was sheep. As a result, when a saw a field of llamas, I thought I should take a photo.  The road continued undulating. I was now in farmland surrounded by fields as far as I could see.  I got to Kington about 6pm more tired than I expected to be. I stopped at a bench on the outskirts of the small town, had my last sandwich and rested for a short while. I called Ian, my host, got directions to his place, and was told that he'd get home as soon as he could but that it would be at least an hour before he got there. I rode through the town, spent some time talking to the volunteer at the Tourist Information office who directed me to a hotel with free wifi. I sat in their lobby and looked for a place to stay in Kendal, my first non-hosted overnight four nights hence. The problem is that I will be in Kendal the Saturday before Easter when reservations might be required. I found an inexpensive hotel and made a reservation. After doing that, I rode over to Ian's place and on my way took a photo of the River Arrow, which runs through Kington.  While I waited for Ian to get home, I updated my daily journal. He arrived about 7:30, apologizing for being late due to have to perform an emergency caesarian birth on a ewe. Ian is a young man who has been out of Veterinary school for about two years. He lives in a two-story townhouse provided by his employer as a condition of his job (he is often on-call). It was perfectly adequate but had no charm nor much of Ian in it. We started talking about the cost of doing emergency surgery on a ewe, which led to discussions of local animal husbandry, farmers attitudes toward their animals and a veterinarian's job in English farming country. It was an interesting conversation covering topics that were new to me. Ian had made a huge vegetarian lasagne (my second of the day!) for dinner and it was good enough that I had two large servings. We talked about Ian's plans to ride his bike from Kington to South Africa, where his family is from and where he recently got a work visa for. He wants to spend some time there doing veterinarian work, seeing the place, and was particularly excited at riding his bike all the way there. We spent a bit of time talking about bike touring equipment before going to bed around 10:30pm. |
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